http://www.destroydebt.com/blogs/lee-martin.html Digging Out Of Debt www.destroydebt.com Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:19:42 GMT webmaster@destroydebt.com webmaster@destroydebt.com http://www.destroydebt.com/blogs/lee-martin/254-debt-free-or-make-money-.html http://www.destroydebt.com/blogs/lee-martin/254-debt-free-or-make-money-.html Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:19:42 GMT There is a longing in my heart that needs to be somehow translated to my head and pocket book.  My problem has always been procrastination.  How do I get this thing kicked off high center and moving in the right direction?  Sometimes I get writers block other times I get savers block,...
Hopefully my involvement in 7 Million in 7 years will not only motivate me, but givde me instruction in how to be all I have always wanted to be.  What I have wanted to be is free of the bondage of financial control.

________

Some time later.  Well tonight I participated in a live feed about the 7m7y experiment.  Actually I listened while others participated.  I been learning a lot from these feeds, and the posts on Adrians Blogs http://7m7y.com .

Thinking differently about how to make money is going to be my cfirst task.

If I am fortunate enough I'll be selected as one of the 7 finalists and will be well on my way to making a lot of money that I'll use to mor e toward establishing a Retreat Center for police and fire personnel and their spouses.  Go check out the web site at http://7m7y.com and see what going on.]]> http://www.destroydebt.com/blogs/lee-martin/297-climbing-a-big-mountain.html http://www.destroydebt.com/blogs/lee-martin/297-climbing-a-big-mountain.html Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:19:28 GMT A few months ago I was accepted into a grand experiment called 7 Millionaires in Training http://7m7y.com and now I'm off and running toward the largest financial mountian of my life.  I'm learning how to dream big. Head is spinning as we try to figure out how to become a millionaire. One of ... http://7m7y.com and now I'm off and running toward the largest financial mountian of my life.  I'm learning how to dream big.

Head is spinning as we try to figure out how to become a millionaire.

One of the things I know for sure is that I'm not getting back into the Debt trap again.]]> http://www.destroydebt.com/blogs/lee-martin/234-file-receipts-what-a-novel-idea.html http://www.destroydebt.com/blogs/lee-martin/234-file-receipts-what-a-novel-idea.html Thu, 05 Jun 2008 02:23:10 GMT By Lee Martin I procrastinate a lot and when I'm not procrastinating I'm putting things off.  One of the things I hate to do is file.  I'll just pile my receipts on the dresser until I can't find my deodorant anymore.  My tax guy just loves to see me come.  My file folder is a c... By Lee Martin

I procrastinate a lot and when I'm not procrastinating I'm putting things off.  One of the things I hate to do is file.  I'll just pile my receipts on the dresser until I can't find my deodorant anymore.  My tax guy just loves to see me come.  My file folder is a couple of large envelopes stuffed with receipts from every place I wrote a check to or used my check card with.

Once in a while I'll get tired of how I live my life and I'll decide I need to get it in order.  Getting things in order always seem to begin with cleaning off my dresser. I find all kinds of really neat things on my dresser. One time I lost my wedding ring for a really long time.  You want to guess where I found it?  One month we got really behind in our bills.  I was so frustrated that I cleaned off the dresser and in the process I found a paycheck I forgot to deposit.  No wonder I was behind on my bills.

Recently I determined I really was going to get things in order.  I was going to get control of my life.  I was going to dig out of debt.  Digging out of debt is a pretty good way of saying it.  From the looks of my dresser it's going to take a shovel and trash can even get started.

My former job brought me into a lot of homes.  I discovered that I'm not the only one who has a pretty poor filing system. I came up with the idea of how to create a filing system, it's not original with me, but for the life of my I don't remember who told me about it.  The process is pretty simple.  Two sets of file folders, one for monthly bills to be paid, one for each day of the month. Secondly a set of twelve file folders one for each month, put the receipts in these.

This all sounds pretty simple and it is. Look at it this way, if nothing else good happens, you'll at least be able to find other stuff that you keep on your dresser.]]> http://www.destroydebt.com/blogs/lee-martin/227-5-reasons-to-dig-out-of-debt.html http://www.destroydebt.com/blogs/lee-martin/227-5-reasons-to-dig-out-of-debt.html Sat, 31 May 2008 03:22:24 GMT By: Lee Martin While talking about getting out of debt with a group of friends, one well meaning participant asked the ultimate question: "Give me one good reason why anybody should get out of debt?" he followed it up with, "being in debt is the American way, we all do it."  His know it all re...
While talking about getting out of debt with a group of friends, one well meaning participant asked the ultimate question: "Give me one good reason why anybody should get out of debt?" he followed it up with, "being in debt is the American way, we all do it."  His know it all response ended with, "there's no way a person can really get out of debt."

His "give me one good reason" question kept bouncing around in my brain and I was determined to come up with it.  But after doing some soul searching and research I actually came up with five good reasons.

IT SETS YOU FREE.  Being out of debt is one of the most freeing experiences of life.  You no longer have to second guess if you have enough money to do what you want. No longer are you bound to the control of bill collectors.  Once you get out of debt you have the freedom to be and do anything you want to.

IT's A GREAT STRESS RELIEVER.  It is a proven fact that people who live pay check to pay check as a result of being in debt also have stress related issues.  The stomach is usually in knots, blood pressure is higher than it needs to be. Some people gain weight from emotional eating and other can't seem to keep from crying.  The list goes on and on.

IT MAKES FOR BETTER FAMILY LIFE.  Families in debt usually have some members who are working more than one job and often the entire family if they are are old enough is working just to make ends meet.  Schedules are crazy and the need to pay the bills are so demanding that family time is non exsistant.  Get out of debt and you will get to know your family.

IT ALLOWS YOU HELP OTHERS.  Not only can you show by example how to get out of debt but you can also be a blessing to others around you.  The debt free person has the abililty to help others in their time of need.

IT MAKES GOD SMILE.  In the bible it says in Romans 13:8 "Own no man any thing".  People who are in debt are so consumed with all that goes along with it that they find God is very displeased with them.  So with a little bit of logic I figured out that being out of debt makes God smile.

So there you have it, 5 good reasons to get out of debt.  I'll bet if you think hard enough you can come up with at least five of your own. 

 ]]> http://www.destroydebt.com/blogs/lee-martin/195-money-in-a-jar.html http://www.destroydebt.com/blogs/lee-martin/195-money-in-a-jar.html Sun, 11 May 2008 09:32:00 GMT By: Lee Martin   "You have got to be kidding me", I said as I sat at the calculator, wide eyed in amazement.  My wife, bless her heart has started this money jar idea. Her reasoning was if at the end of the day we put all out loose change in a jar that at the end of a certain pe... By: Lee Martin

 

"You have got to be kidding me", I said as I sat at the calculator, wide eyed in amazement.  My wife, bless her heart has started this money jar idea. Her reasoning was if at the end of the day we put all out loose change in a jar that at the end of a certain period of time we would have this huge amount of money that could be used for things we need. 

Now I like being married, so I went along with the idea.  Of course it didn't last very long, but I tried.  Then she had the idea that perhaps I could just stop going to the coffee shop each morning.  Well now she is beginning to get a little too personal and I was determined that my morning routine wasn't costing me much anyway.

With pencil in hand I sat down to figure out just how much money I "wouldn't save".  I was flabbergasted at what I learned about my spending habits.  Since I am a creature of habit it wasn't difficult to figure out:  1 cinnimon crunch bagel, 1 cup of hazel nut coffee and a local newspaper and the total is $4.40.  I usually go the coffee shop 5 days a week so now I have spent $22 a week and I go probably 50 weeks a year which would make my total $1,100 per year.  I have been doing this for the last 6 years, which mounts up to $ 6,600.

Now lets put this in perspective.  That price equals 2 years and 13 weeks worth of gas for my pick up and at todays gas prices that's a pretty big deal.  It's also twice what I give to my church, and I'm a minister.

I wonder how many jars it would take to hold $6.600?]]> http://www.destroydebt.com/blogs/lee-martin/191-gazelle-intense.html http://www.destroydebt.com/blogs/lee-martin/191-gazelle-intense.html Mon, 05 May 2008 04:32:08 GMT By Lee Martin: Dave Ramsey uses a lot of ways to get his message across.  I especially like some of the videos clips he uses.  He uses one about a Gazelle being chased by a Cheeeta.  This big old spotted cat took off after, wouldn't you know it, the smallest Gazelle.  Ma... By Lee Martin:

Dave Ramsey uses a lot of ways to get his message across.  I especially like some of the videos clips he uses.  He uses one about a Gazelle being chased by a Cheeeta.  This big old spotted cat took off after, wouldn't you know it, the smallest Gazelle.  Man the race was on.  I was ready to see first hand the destruction of a little baby Gazelle.

But you know what? That Gazelle just didn't want to be lunch that day, it was running for it's life.

I got the point real quick.  I don't want debt to run up behind me anymore and have me for lunch. From now on it's got to catch me first. ]]> http://www.destroydebt.com/blogs/lee-martin/190-im-a-believer.html http://www.destroydebt.com/blogs/lee-martin/190-im-a-believer.html Mon, 05 May 2008 04:19:05 GMT By Lee Martin: I'm a Believer was the title of a song somewhere back in my younger years.  The Beatles I think made it famous.  Today it's a phrase used when you want to be politically correct about your relationship with God.  Those who don't care about politics just go ahead and... By Lee Martin:

I'm a Believer was the title of a song somewhere back in my younger years.  The Beatles I think made it famous.  Today it's a phrase used when you want to be politically correct about your relationship with God.  Those who don't care about politics just go ahead and say, "I'm a Christian".  Dave Ramsey is cool, he just comes right out and says it, "I'm a Christian".

I guess one of the reasons I listened so intently to him was because he was willing up front to make it clear that he was a believer.  He always made it pretty clear that he hadn't always been very smart.  He had done some "stupid things" in his past.  I'm not sure but he might have even done some of those stupid things not too long ago.

There are a lot of people who follow Ramsey and hang on his every word.  What he says has struck a cord with them and they are "Ramsey believers".  What I like about the seminar I attended was that it was made very clear that there would be nothing new told us. Everything we were about to hear we already heard from "God and our grandmother".  If God had already been speaking to you about your finances and if you got one of Daves CD's with his testimony on it and if you listened to it when you got home and if you had half a brain you probably realized that financial freedom and being a "believer" are pretty closely tied together.]]> http://www.destroydebt.com/blogs/lee-martin/189-live-like-no-one-else.html http://www.destroydebt.com/blogs/lee-martin/189-live-like-no-one-else.html Mon, 05 May 2008 03:48:41 GMT By Lee Martin: The first time I hard Dave Ramsey make the statement, "live like no one else" I thought of someone who is elite.  I thought well this guys sure is stuck on himself.  I thought he's on some kind of ego trip.  But I didn't him completely off, maybe I turned him down b... By Lee Martin:

The first time I hard Dave Ramsey make the statement, "live like no one else" I thought of someone who is elite.  I thought well this guys sure is stuck on himself.  I thought he's on some kind of ego trip.  But I didn't him completely off, maybe I turned him down but not off.  I wanted to hear something that would help me get my finances in order.

As I listened I kept hearing that same phrase, "live like no one else" but then he added to something else, he said "live like no one else now so later on you can live like some one else".  For the next ten minutes I heard nothing he was saying, I was trying to get my brain around that thought. I was jolted back to reality when I heard him say it again. 

I listened carefully and everytime he made that same statement, and he made it often, it seemed to make a little more sense.  Then I realized that what he was saying I always wanted to do.  I wanted to live like no one else, not rich, certainly not poor I just didn't want to be like everyone else. I wanted all my life to be able to do my own thing, my own way.  I usually had problems pulling it off but now I was setting with 12,000 other people listening to a guy not only told me to do it, but he was telling me "how" to do it.

I left that seminar that day with the understanding that if I wanted to "live like no one else" I would have to start by "living like no one else.]]> http://www.destroydebt.com/blogs/lee-martin/188-dave-ramsey-and-common-sense.html http://www.destroydebt.com/blogs/lee-martin/188-dave-ramsey-and-common-sense.html Mon, 05 May 2008 03:09:27 GMT By Lee Martin:  I attended my first Dave Ramsey "Financial freedom" conference the other day in Kansas City.  I had this trip planned for several weeks.  My son and wife talked me into going. Secretly, I didn't "want" to go, and openly I was getting a little tired of hearing a... By Lee Martin:

 I attended my first Dave Ramsey "Financial freedom" conference the other day in Kansas City.  I had this trip planned for several weeks.  My son and wife talked me into going. Secretly, I didn't "want" to go, and openly I was getting a little tired of hearing about this "Ramsey" guy.

The day of the conference came and we make a week end of it.  Stayed in a pretty cool hotel went out to eat and just had opportunity to get away from home for a couple of days.  So to listen to Dave Ramsey was a small price to pay.  We get to the arena early (so did everyone else) and we found seats.  I prepared myself for what I thought would would be a long six hours of this guys speech.

Now I'm a preacher so I know how important it is to capture your audience in the first few minutes if not sooner. I'm here to tell you Ramsey did just that.  You see I have a ministry to law enforcement officers that has as it's slogan, "A Common Sense Approach to Dealing With Stress".  Guess what?  Ramsey in his first sentence of two told us that what he was going to tell us was nothing new, it was just good "common sense".

It would have made no difference what he was saying next, I was hooked.  For the next six hours I listened to every word.  If I ever get a chance to go to another Dave Ramsey seminar believe you me, I'll go.  Everything he said made sense, common sense. ]]>